This little Yarn Remainder Finder can help you figure out the yardage (or meters) remaining in your ball of yarn at any point in your knitting. This is useful for all sorts of things, but most importantly, you can find how much yarn you have left before you start that final section (and risk playing yarn chicken)!
This cute chicken is to remind you that playing yarn chicken is exciting–but can be frustrating!
Yarn Remainder Finder
You need to know a couple things first, so that you can enter all the necessary information into the table.
What you need to put into the table:
- Original skein weight (in grams, ounces, or another weight)
- Remaining skein weight (make sure this is the same unit of measurement as the original skein weight)
- Total skein yardage (or meters) from the ball band
The maths (that British term works so well) are available to the right in the table so you can see how it is done. Once you get the hang of it, it is easy to remember even when you aren’t able to pull up this table.
Using the Yarn Remainder Finder Table
The Yarn Remainder Finder is interactive! In the table below, click on the box next to the descriptions for 1. original skein weight, 2. remaining skein weight, and 3. skein yardage, and enter the correct numbers. The Yarn Remainder Finder will then do the maths for you! The answers appear in the cell next to “Total yardage (meters) remaining” which has a 0 in it when the table is blank. Hit enter after entering the information for your three values, and voila! Your yardage is calculated (in whichever unit of measurement you entered for your skein yardage).
| Knowns: | Knowns: | Math: | ||
| Original weight of skein | multiply (remaining weight * skein yardage): | 0 | ||
| Remaining weight of skein | divide (answer above / original weight): | 0 | ||
| Skein yardage (meters) | ||||
| Total yardage (meters) remaining | 0 |
Calculating Yardage Consumption
Measure off a number of yards/meters (5 or 10) of yarn, working from the needles. Put a locking pin (I usually tie a loose slip knot over the pin) to mark the end of the measured yarn. Work the rows specified, then measure the remaining yarn to determine yarn used and subtract the remaining yarn from the total measured yarn. If you do not measure enough at the outset, increase and track additional the yards/meters measured as needed.
Other Tables Related to the Yarn Remainder Finder
How much yarn I have left in a ball is something I calculate multiple times during a day. In the past I have wanted to put this up, and might have a sheet I create related to a blog post or pattern, but Penny Shima Glanz at Pennywise Consulting found this nifty table-creater plug-in for me. It was so cool, I immediately thought of all the other things I could put into a cool table! Patience paid off (as it usually does, you just have to wait!).
As I get the rest of the tables created, I’ll put links here!
